Book Notes: Exploring a brave, new world in ‘The Warehouse’
“The Warehouse” By Rob Hart. Crown, New York, August 2019. 368 pages. $27.One of the most appealing things about “The Warehouse,” the new near-future, near-dystopian thriller by Rob Hart, is its...
View ArticleBook Notes: ‘It’s time to talk out loud about sex and grieving’
“Sex After Grief: Navigating Your Sexuality After Losing Your Beloved” By Joan Price. Mango, Coral Gables, 2019. $16.95. 172 page.The mind and body aren’t always in agreement. Someone grieving the...
View ArticleStephen King is turning his Maine home into a museum and writers' retreat
While it has been a tourist attraction for die-hard Stephen King fans, King's home in Bangor, Maine is about to become an official destination. King and his wife Tabitha requested to rezone their home...
View ArticleBook Notes: Watch your back
“Cutting Edge: New Stories of Mystery and Crime by Women Writers”Edited by Joyce Carol Oates with stories by Margaret Atwood, Aimee Bender, Edwidge Danticat, Valerie Martin and others. Published by...
View ArticleBook Notes: Storyteller weaves a rich web of tales
“Everything Inside” Stories by Edwidge Danticat. Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 2019. 223 pages. $29.95.Stepping into Edwidge Danticat’s world is stepping into a more illuminated, truer, richer place than...
View ArticleBook Notes: A tale of siblings who must stick together
“The Dutch House” By Ann Patchett. HarperCollins, New York, 2019. 337 pages. $27.99Ann Patchett’s newest book, a novel titled “The Dutch House,” tells the story of a brother and sister who, early on in...
View ArticleThese titles were the bestselling books of the decade
If you started and ended the decade as a voracious reader, perhaps you picked up a few of these titles. According to NPD Bookscan, these were the books that flew off the shelves this decade. "Fifty...
View ArticleBook Notes: Solitary detectives make a solid team in Connelly’s ‘Night Fire’
“The Night Fire: A Renée Ballard and Harry Bosch Novel” by Michael Connelly. Little, Brown and Company, 2019. 416 pages. $26.99Harry Bosch, one of contemporary literature’s best-known detectives, is...
View ArticleBook Notes: Resuming the story of Olive Kitteridge in ‘Olive, Again’
“Olive, Again” by Elizabeth Strout. Random House, 2019. 304 pages.Few people, fictional or otherwise, make me cringe like Olive Kitteridge does. When I read any of the linked stories in “Olive, Again,”...
View ArticleJeanine Cummins' migrant book 'American Dirt' is problematic; author's note...
"American Dirt" (Flatiron, 400 pp., ★½ out of four) starts out as one hell of a thriller: At her niece’s quinceañera, Lydia’s entire family is slaughtered by a cartel: 16 people total, including her...
View ArticleBook Notes: A thriller that finds hope in bleakness in ‘Long Bright River’
“Long Bright River” by Liz Moore. Riverhead Books (Penguin Random House imprint). 2020. $26. 492 pages.“Long Bright River” by Liz Moore is a rare treat. A thriller by definition, it is much more. But...
View ArticleBook review: ‘Prairie Lotus’ reimagines ‘Little House’ world through eyes of...
Like countless American girls, Linda Sue Park devoured the “Little House” novels of Laura Ingalls Wilder, re-reading them and imagining herself in the stories as a friend of young Laura.But as she grew...
View ArticleJim Higgins: How to read 35, 50 or 100 books a year: Give up on the boring ones
I read a lot of books. During this decade I’ve finished more than 100 in a year at least twice. Sometimes when people find this out, I get polite chatter about how I find the time, not unlike the kind...
View ArticleBook review: New book on The Association provides a different look at pop...
If you can remember hearing the catchy strains of “Along Comes Mary” by The Association back when it first hit radio’s top 40 stations, wow ... you’re old! If you’ve never heard of The Association,...
View ArticleBook review: New book on The Association provides a different look at pop...
If you can remember hearing the catchy strains of “Along Comes Mary” by The Association back when it first hit radio’s top 40 stations, wow ... you’re old! If you’ve never heard of The Association,...
View ArticleBook review: Jim Bouton biography goes deep inside writing of ’Ball Four’
Jim Bouton the pitcher was famous for a time for a few successful World Series appearances as a New York Yankee in the early 1960s. But Jim Bouton’s legacy was minted as a writer, and he reveled in...
View ArticleArea author returns to his automotive roots
Most writers find a niche and write within it but others, like Paul Adam Herd, Monett, are versatile enough to write in more than one area. Herd, who writes mystery novels under the pen name of...
View ArticleTime to finally read 'Shepherd of the Hills'
I have a confession to make: I have never read "The Shepherd of the Hills" by Harold Bell Wright. For all of my fascination with our Ozarks, which I was born and raised in, the most well known novel...
View Article200 years of heroes and rogues, heartbreak and triumph
Next year, Missouri's Bicentennial will celebrate two hundred years of statehood. While numerous events and recognitions are planned, Missourians can get a head start delving into the state's past...
View ArticleBook review: Smith’s ‘The Meat and Potatoes of Life’ gives a funny look at...
Once upon a time, young Lisa Smith, a lawyer, married Francis Molinari, an up and coming naval career officer. Then they had three kids, and military service caused multiple relocations. Like everyone...
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